


If I Could I Would Dare Feed Your Dreams And Starve Your Fears

by BFive0, SandraMG



Series: Kitchen Nightmares [1]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, First Kiss, First Time, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-28
Updated: 2012-04-28
Packaged: 2017-11-04 10:55:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/393051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BFive0/pseuds/BFive0, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SandraMG/pseuds/SandraMG
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“It’s fucking raw!” screamed Danny.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If I Could I Would Dare Feed Your Dreams And Starve Your Fears

**Author's Note:**

> • Written for the Steve/Danno Spring Fling 2012 for the prompt “Kitchen Nightmares AU where Danny is chef Ramsay” by iam_space, hope this lives by your expectations.  
> • Sandra is my lifesaver; this wouldn’t have been posted without her.

“It’s fucking RAW!” screamed Danny at Wo Fat.

 

"Excuse me <b>chef</b>, but I don’t believe they’ll be back, no matter what we serve them!" sneered Wo Fat, Five0’s usual head chef. "The only reason the dining room is full is because they heard that you're here!

 

“Superstar chef Danny Williams is in town with his television show to try to save Five 0’s from their destined bankruptcy, now that’s definitely worth the food poisoning." mocked Hesse, the sous-chef.

 

Danny glared at them, daring either of them to disrespect him again. He looked back at the plate of raw chicken one last time before he turned to chef Kono and, with a deep sigh, said, “Shut it down, tell everyone that the kitchen is closed for the night.” He threw the chicken, plate and all, into the garbage, before leaving the kitchen and heading straight for Steve, the restaurant owner and manager, who was standing by the bar talking to a well-dressed man. Danny grabbed his arm, pulling him aside. “You and me outside, right the fuck now!” and stormed outside the restaurant, camera man in tow.

 

Steve gave an apologetic look to the costumer and risked a glance to Kamekona who was shaking his head while pouring a drink for another customer. He excused himself, then headed outside where he found Danny, pacing like some caged animal, in the parking lot.

 

“What the hell Danny? This isn’t an episode of your TV show where you yell at people and they take it gladly, that was a customer!” said Steve.

 

“I can’t help you like this! I know that you keep reminding me that I’m ‘just a chef’ but I’m not okay? Danno is not just my daughter’s special name for me, it’s the number 1 fucking brand in the world for elite dining and kitchen equipment! I know a thing or two about running a restaurant and tonight? Tonight was shambolic, sweetheart. The last fucking straw!” screamed Danny.

 

“Like what Danny?” Steve felt his voice rise in anger. “I’ve done everything you asked me to do and you still don’t like it? Fuck you, how about that?”

 

“Steven, you-” said Danny.

 

“Do not ‘Steven’ me!” shouted Steve. “ I fucking trusted you with my father’s restaurant! I did everything you asked for Danny! I changed the interior of the restaurant, I changed the menu, I even left the office to 'socialize' with the customers as you asked me to do and now you're quitting on me?"

 

"Your chef was going to serve raw chicken Steve!" Danny’s voice was low, but heated, and dark. It burned Steve’s very heart. "He could've killed someone. Now, I know you used to kill people for a living, but they were terrorists! We’re just trying to feed a few tourists out on the town in Oahu here, Steve! It’s unacceptable, I didn’t sign up for it.”

 

"What, you think I did? If you asked me a year ago where I'd be right now, you think ‘running my father's restaurant to try and carry on the legacy’ would've have been my answer?" Steven’s voice was quiet too, only defeated.

 

“I’m sorry about that, okay? But here’s what I can see: I have a restaurant owner who’s in over his head, a chef who’s intentionally trying to make the restaurant fail...”

 

“What?” Steve cut him off, “Wo Fat was my father’s sous-chef, he’s been with the restaurant since it opened over a decade ago. Why would he want it to fail?”

 

“All I know is that when I confronted him about the chicken, he didn’t care! It doesn’t take a genius to know that this restaurant has been in a tailspin since your father died, and its because of your chef! He can’t take the fact that your father couldn’t trust him to run the place. That he left the restaurant to you, not to him.”

 

“Danny, what are you saying?”

 

“I’m saying that you need to fire your chef, Steve.”

 

“No.”

 

“You asked for my advice and I’ve given it to you, if you don’t fire Wo Fat then you can kiss your father’s restaurant goodbye.”

 

Danny started to walk away from the restaurant, ripping the buttons of his chef whites open, desperate for air. He couldn’t stand it when people took advantage, and Steve was a good man; rough around the edges, but his heart was in the right place. The cameras were still following him, his producer blabbering into his ear piece. “Oh fuck off!” Turning to the camera, he gave his statement.

 

“Five 0 could be good, amazing actually. They have the best of everything here. But until Steve has the balls to take control of his restaurant, there’s nothing I can do here. It’s lose the chef, or lose me. I’m done.”

 

 

The next day, Danny didn’t want to get out of bed. The good thing about doing a show in Hawaii was that he could visit his daughter, Grace, who had moved to the island with her mother, Danny’s ex. The two were holed up in the hotel, and Danny didn’t want to leave it for anything, least of all some lost-cause restaurant. But he did, thanks to his producer, who reminded him that they still needed a _complete_ show by the end of the week, and he needed to go back. Danny was fed up with the show; it was too heartbreaking and discouraging and he wanted to stay in one place for more than a week at a time.

 

Even if Steve wouldn’t listen to him, he wouldn’t mind seeing him again. There was something about Steve McGarrett that he liked. He wasn’t sure if it was his morals, or his dedication to his father’s memory, or just how gorgeous his eyes were in the restaurant’s low lighting- _STOP IT_ , Danny told his brain.

 

As he (and the cameras) walked back towards the restaurant, Danny found Steve in his office. Knocking softly on the door, he pushed in, mentally cursing the cameras swirling around him.

“How are you Steve?”

 

Steve looked up in surprise, his desk covered in papers and old receipts. “I didn’t expect you back.”

 

Danny sat, leaning forwards, his elbows on his knees. “I still want to help Steve. But you need to let me help. You need to listen to me.”

 

“But that’s the thing Danny,” Steve said, rolling his eyes. “I’ve done everything you’ve told me to do, and you say it still won’t make a difference, not unless I fire Wo Fat.”

 

“Would you do it?”

 

Steve sighed, running a hand over his face, before gathering up the multitude of papers on his desk and dropping them in front of Danny. “These are the takings from the last two years, ever since Wo Fat took over. You’re right. The day my father died was the day this restaurant started failing, and all signs point to Wo Fat and his team. I don’t know how I didn’t notice it. I guess I didn’t want to.

 

Danny just stared at Steve, feeling so sorry for the man that had lost everything; his father, his business partner, and his livelihood. He hadn’t asked for that. “So, you’ve come to a decision?”

 

“Yeah,” Steve nodded. “Wo Fat is out. I’m done.”

 

Danny wasn’t sure why, but Steve’s acceptance was the reasoning he needed to stand up and wrap his arms around the guy, pulling him down into a hug. And it was all on camera.

 

 

One week later, Five 0 was buzzing; Wo Fat and his team had been fired, while chefs’ Kono and Chin were feeding customers single handedly, night in night out, until they found a permanent replacement. Even Steve was starting to feel like things had improved. There was only one thing missing.

 

After another successful night, Steve said goodbye to Chin and Kono and started locking up. As he left the restaurant, he stopped suddenly; it was Danny, looking as normal as he ever did. No chef whites, no pots or pans to bang on - just him.

 

Danny smiled, his hands in his pockets. “Well, I couldn’t leave you alone too long.”

 

Steve smiled, and oh god, his smile, his real smile, was one of the most beautiful things Danny had ever seen. “Aren’t you supposed to wait a couple of months before you come storming back in with cameras to see how we’re doing?”

 

“Normally yes, if there was a show.”

 

Steve’s jaw dropped, “What? They didn’t fire you, did they?”

 

Danny shook his head, taking a few steps towards Steve. “No. I quit. I realized that I couldn’t do it anymore. Telling people they’re failures, how not to run a restaurant...the spark disappeared I think. I’m going to go back to cooking full time.”

 

“That’s great, Danny, I’m happy for you.”

 

“That is,” Danny cut in, with a grin, stepping ever closer. “If you’ll have me.”

 

Steve swallowed thickly. “Wh-what?” he stammered?

 

Danny grinned. “My daughter lives in Hawaii. I thought it was about time I try and settle down, for her. But I know you need a head chef. Well...I’m your man, if you want me.”

 

Steve’s eyes flickered from Danny’s eyes to his lips, not mistaking the double intent in Danny’s words. “I do.” Steve whispered, closing the gap between the two. He smiled, “I most definitely want you, Chef.”

 

And Danny, smirking, with a side-tip of his head, leaned forward to press his lips to Steve’s, their kiss a promise of so many more things to come.

**Author's Note:**

> • I had a long detailed chaptered idea for this fic but timing isn’t my friend this time of the year with graduation projects and my last few months of college... So this is definitely not the last time I write chef Danno.


End file.
